UK hires Charlotte's Lipsitz as women's soccer coach
Jon Lipsitz, who led Charlotte to conference championships the past three seasons, has been hired as the new women's soccer coach at Kentucky, the school announced Tuesday.
Lipsitz replaces Warren Lipka, who was let go in November after 17 seasons as head coach.
"Jon Lipsitz possesses all the qualities we look for in a head coach," Kentucky Athletics Director Mitch Barnhart said in a news release. "He is a tireless worker both on and off the field, proven by his highly ranked recruiting classes and the success his teams have had on the field and in the classroom."
Lipsitz, who owns a career record of 101-33-8 in seven seasons, comes to Lexington after spending the past four seasons as the head coach at Charlotte. He guided the 49ers to a 58-23-4 record and won Atlantic 10 titles in 2006, '07 and '08. Charlotte increased its win total every season under Lipsitz, going from 11 in 2005, to 13 in 2006, to 16 in 2007, to a school-record 18 in 2008.
In this season's NCAA Tournament, Charlotte defeated Tennessee 2-0 in the first round before being eliminated by eventual national champion North Carolina, 4-0, in the second round.
The 49ers finished 2008 ranked fifth nationally in scoring (3.00) and 19th in shutout percentage (56.5).
"I feel honored to be the chosen leader of this program going forward," Lipsitz said in the news release. "This is a special place, and a special city, that really supports this university and its athletic department. I'm excited about our future and I'm ready to get to work for the University of Kentucky.
In his four seasons at Charlotte, Lipsitz guided the 49ers to 34 Atlantic 10 wins, three A-10 regular-season titles, two A-10 Tournament titles and two NCAA Tournament appearances. He coached seven Academic All-Americans and two athletic All-Americans.
Before taking over the 49ers, Lipsitz spent four seasons as assistant coach at Ohio State, where he was the chief recruiter for a program that won 52 games and two Big Ten Tournament titles and made three straight trips to the NCAA Tournament.
Before that, Lipsitz spent three seasons at NCAA Division III Denison, where he went 43-10-4 in three seasons.
Lipsitz is no stranger to the UK women's soccer program. He served as the director of coaching and player development for the Ohio Premier Girls' Soccer Club from 1993-2005, when the club produced former UK standouts Annie Gage and Elizabeth Ramsey, as well as current seniors Tara Herold and Kristin Kover.
Lipsitz, who holds a U.S. Soccer Federation "A" license, graduated from North Carolina in 1993 and earned a master's of education from Ohio State in 1998.
Lipsitz and his wife, Kathryn, have two sons, Zachary, 12, and Max, 4.
Lipsitz takes over a UK team that finished 5-12-2 in 2008.
This story was originally published December 16, 2008 at 4:07 PM with the headline "UK hires Charlotte's Lipsitz as women's soccer coach."